Cartridge fuse holders



Dec. 31, 1968 B. w. MATTHEWS CARTRIDGE FUSE HOLDERS Sheet Filed April 5, 1967 1968 a. w. MATTHEWS 3,

CARTRIDGE FUSE HOLDERS Filed April 3, 1967 Sheet 2 of 5 Dec. 31, 1968 a. w. MATTHEWS CARTRIDGE FUSE HOLDERS Sheet Filed April 5, 1967 ND m m U m m m W 2. U U- M SQ W JMHHU m 8 UH United States Patent 3,419,839 CARTRIDGE FUSE HOLDERS Benjamin William Matthews, Small Heath, Birmingham, England, assignor to Joseph Lucas (Industries) Limited, Birmingham, England, a British company Filed Apr. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 627,905 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Apr. 14, 1966, 16,347/ 66 Claims. (Cl. 337--188) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cartridge-fuse holder comprising an insulating base having pairs of slots extending inwardly from opposite edges thereof and clips slidably engaged in each pair of slots respectively, the clips being adapted to support and make electrical connection to cartridge fuses in use.

This invention relates to holders for cartridge fuses, and has for its object to provide such a fuse holder in a convenient form.

A fuse holder according to the invention comprises in combination, an insulating base, a pair of parallel slots extending inwardly from one edge of the base, a conductive clip slidably engaged in said pair of slots and retained relative to the base, and a second conductive clip similarly engaged with an opposite edge of the base, the clips being adapted to support and make electrical connection to a cartridge fuse engaged therebetween.

One example of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a fuse holder for one fuse, the fuse being shown in dotted lines for clarity,

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view on the line 2--2 in FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 in FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of an insulating base of a holder for a plurality of fuses, and

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of the base shown in FIGURE 4.

Referring first t-o FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, the fuse holder comprises an insulating base 11 moulded in synthetic resin, and having engaged therewith a pair of conductive clips 12, 12a.

The base 11 is rectangular and is formed with a pair of parallel slots 13, 14 extending longitudinally of the base from one edge thereof, and a second pair of slots 13a, 14a aligned with slots 13, 14 respectively and extending longitudinally of the base from the opposite edge thereof. The slots 13, 14 define between them a finger 17 which is formed with a square hole 18 spaced from the free end of the finger. In the lower surface of the finger 17 is a groove 19 which extends between the hole 18 and the free end of the finger, and has a depth varying from a minimum adjacent the hole 18 to a maximum at the other end, so as to define a ramp 21. The slots 13a, 14a define a similar finger 17a at the opposite edge of the base.

The clip 12 comprises a trough shaped base portion 23 having tabs 24 at one end thereof which are in use bent to grip and make electrical connection to a wire. At the opposite end of the portion 23, the walls of the trough are extended upwardly to form a pair of resilient arms 25. The arms 25 are mirror images of each other, and each comprises four distinct portions, a vertical portion 32, an inwardly inclined portion 33, a curved portion 34 and an outwardly inclined portion 35. The base portion 23 of each clip is stamped to define an upwardly inclined resilient tongue 26 the fixed end of which is remote from the connector tabs 24. The portions 33 of the arms 25 are stamped to form tongues 27 which are inclined inwardly at a greater angle than the portions 33, and the portions 34 have generally radially extending tongues 28 integral therewith, the tongues 28 extending towards one another.

To assemble the fuse holder the clip 12 is engaged in the slots at each end of the base 11, the fingers 17 passing between the portions 32 of the arms 25 and between the base portions 23 and the tongues 27. The tongue 26 engages the groove 19 and as the clip is pushed onto the finger 17, the tongue 26 is flexed towards the plane of the portion 23 by the ramp 21. When the tongue 26 corresponds with the hole 18, it flexes back to its original position thereby locking the clip to the base 11, the arrangement being such that the tabs 24 extend beyond the ends of the base 11 to facilitate the required connections. The portions 32 of the arms 25 are formed with outwardly directed projections 29 which ensures that the clip 12 engages tightly in the slots 13, 14. The other clip 12a is similar to the clip 12 and engages the slots 13a, 14a in similar manner.

To engage a cartridge fuse 31 with the holder, the conductive end caps of the fuse are located between the portions 35, 35a of the clips, and the fuse being aligned longitudinally in the clips by the tongues 28.

The tongues 27, 27a ensure that the clips are not displaced when the fuse 31 is engaged with the clips.

It will be appreciated that the holes 18 need not extend through the fingers 17.

The base 32 shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 is provided with six pairs of slots for receiving clips. Thus six fuses can be operatively supported if required. In a practical embodiment however only five fuses are operatively supported the clips associated with the sixth fuse position being omitted. The base 32 is formed integrally with coa cting pairs of resilient members 33, 34 at each of the six fuse positions and whe for example, only five fuses are operatively supported the members 32, 34 at the sixth fuse position are utilized to support a spare fuse as indicated in dotted lines in FIGURES 4 and 5.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A cartridge fuse holder comprising an insulating base; at least one pair of parallel slots extending inwardly from each of two opposite edges of said base; each pair of parallel slots defining a finger of insulating base material therebetween, said finger having a retaining means; and a conductive clip slidably engaged in each pair of parallel slots, the bottom and sides of said clip having tongues which respectively engage said finger retaining means and the top of said finger to fixedly retain said clip relative to said base, the clip being adapted to support and make electrical connection with a cartridge fuse engaged therebetween.

2. A cartridge fuse holder as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bottom of said finger has a groove running from the edge of the finger to the finger retaining means which is a hole; when said clip is inserted into said pair of parallel slots said tongue on the bottom thereof being resilient is guided by the groove and snaps into said hole thereby retaining the clip relative the base.

3. A cartridge fuse holder as claimed in claim 1 wherein the outside side portions of said clip have projections 3 4 thereon to provide a snug fit when the clip is inserted in References Cited Sald pair 0f parallel S1018. UNITED STATES P 4. A cartridge fuse holder as claimed in claim 1 wherein said clip has an extension extending beyond said base, the extension having tabs to enable attachment of a fur- 5 ther electrical conducton BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Puma; y Exammer.

5. A cartridge fuse holder as claimed in claim 1 Where- HIRAM B. GILSON, Assistant Examiner. in said base has co-acting pairs of insulative resilient members adjacent said pairs of parallel slots adapted to support a spare cartridge fuse when said slots are not 10 5- occupied with said clips.

2,777,118 1/1957 Sundt 200-133 X 

